Centennial celebration planned for Curtiss Flying Boat

The Curtiss Flying Boat Centennial Celebration will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15, at Depot Park in Hammondsport, N.Y, home of aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss. This free outdoor event will feature the Glenn Curtiss Salute, a parade of visiting seaplanes around Keuka Lake, at 1 p.m.

Food will be available for purchase and unique gift items from the Museum Gift Shop will be on display and available for purchase. Visitors can also pick up a coupon for discounted Museum admission. Visiting seaplanes from around the region will be on exhibit throughout the day.

The Curtiss Model E is considered to be the first successful flying boat. It was the first in a long series of flying boats on which Glenn Curtiss built his fame and fortune. Curtiss debuted the Model E — or Flying Fish — in January 1912. It became the U.S. Army’s first flying boat and was also used by the U.S. Navy. The Model E was primarily a training aircraft which served as a predecessor to the much larger Curtiss flying boats that were used for anti-submarine patrolling during World War One. These were the only aircraft of American origin to serve in combat during that conflict.

Glenn Curtiss received The National Aeronautic Association’s Robert J. Collier Trophy in 1912 for his invention of the flying boat. Collier, publisher of Collier’s Weekly magazine, commissioned the trophy to encourage the American aviation community to strive for excellence and achievement in aeronautic development.